This is the time allotted by the Election Commission for candidates across the country to campaign. During this period, candidates have the right to reach any place in their constituency and present their agenda to voters.

However, in Jhapa's Constituency No. 2, all candidates have been banned from entering the Birtamod Bus Park area, which has at least 2,000 voters. A banner has been put up at the gate, saying, 'Justice has been openly murdered here, election activities are prohibited.'

'No candidate from any political party listened to our plea, so we have banned any candidate from coming here to send a message that they do not have the ethics to ask for votes,' said Sujan Shiwakoti of Arjundhara-11, Bus Park, 'The property rights of every citizen have been illegally taken away. In such a situation, we have protested symbolically, saying, "Don't come and rub salt in our wounds while all the leaders are silent."

The 51 bigha land around Birtamod Bus Park in Birtamod Municipality-5 and Arjundhara Municipality-11 was once in the name of 'Naz Tea State Pvt. Ltd.' under Giribandhu Tea State.

According to local Sudip Dangal, who is also the office secretary of the Bus Park Management Committee, on 8 Jestha 2052, after good tea production stopped in some areas, it was decided to transfer the Naz Tea Estate to Bahundangi in Mechinagar Municipality.

‘The land after the transfer was plotted to be sold to the people through a housing company,’ Dangal said, ‘We had bought that land 20/22 years ago.’ 

The people here had been enjoying that land for almost three decades. However, when the government decided to approve the swap or transfer of 343 bighas, 19 katthas, 12 dhurs of land in Birtamod Municipality-6 of the Giribandhu Tea Estate, the government decided to give permission.

This decision was made when KP Sharma Oli, who is also the UML chairman, was the Prime Minister. Before that, a legal provision was made in 2076 Magh by amending the law to allow the swap or sale of land taken by various individuals or companies. The current Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal had filed a writ petition in the court against this, with Bhaktaraj Bharati as his advocate.

The then Chief Justice Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Justices Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Prakash Man Singh Raut, Sapana Pradhan Malla and Sushmalata Mathema had quashed the government's decision to exchange land and all the decisions taken accordingly. The effect of that quashing also affected those who had taken the land after the transfer of the Naz Tea Estate 30 years ago.

'In the order issued by the Supreme Court on 24 Magh 2080 BS, it has only been said to count since 51 bighas of land have already gone to a third party, it has been said that there is no need to speak,'  Local victim Shiva Poudel says, 'But, for the past two years, neither can we do anything by keeping our land in the bank nor can we sell it. On one hand, they keep saying there is no problem, on the other hand, the land revenue chief keeps saying that they cannot sell or trade, citing the order of the higher authorities.’

Sanjogi Chemjong, a resident of Bus Park, recalls that they bought a house on a managed land 18 years ago. ‘We are not squatters, we bought it with our own sweat, if it was illegal, the government should have stopped it right away,’ she told Kantipur. ‘We built the house with the money my husband earned by joining the Indian Army.’

However, when she was sending her son abroad to study, the bank said, ‘There is no valuation, it is illegal.’ She recalls. ‘The current Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal filed that case, we were affected by it, the government should give us our rights,’ she says.

Candidates are currently unable to come to seek votes in this 51-bigah area due to this problem. ‘Leaders talk about development, but there is dust that makes it impossible to live here, there is corruption in the country, and they have always done nothing but cause suffering to the people,’ says local Shiva Poudel.

UML candidate and former Speaker Devraj Ghimire, who was elected from Jhapa 2 in 2079 BS, says he is talking to the victims. ‘This is a problem that has not been resolved yet in this area, I am also talking to my friends from there,’ Ghimire told Kantipur, ‘However, boycotting will not solve the problem, I urge them to talk to the candidates and raise their problems.’

He said that he knows that the people there are really suffering and wants voters not to boycott the election activities.

‘Create an environment where your ideas can be heard, after being elected, candidates issue a commitment to help solve the problem from there,’ he added, ‘I would like to urge you to vote for the party and candidate you like.’

However, victim Sujan Shiwakoti says that she may not even vote if she does not get a concrete opinion on her issue. ‘In the current situation, we cannot even vote, although the committee has not yet decided on that issue,’ he said, ‘but, now we want to tell the political parties from here, please understand our problem. If we are illegal, then bring written evidence, otherwise, give a common understanding of our pain.’

Dharmashila Chapagain, the candidate of the Nepali Communist Party from Jhapa 2, also says that the residents of the bus park in Birtamod and Arjundhara should get justice.

‘I was in jail at that time. Who did injustice, who committed corruption, I don’t understand that much. But, if it was illegal, why was the land sold at that time?,’ she asked, ‘And, why was it illegally contracted again after so many years?’

The vote of new voters and the ‘51 biga area’ may be decisive

In Jhapa 2, Deputy Speaker Indira Rana Magar is also in the fray along with former Speaker Ghimire. She, who is a candidate from the National Independent Party (NISP), says that the people are showing immense faith in her.

‘The people have already given me the seal of victory,’ she said while showing the seal given by voters during the door-to-door campaign, ‘After this, all the problems here will be solved.’

In the competition between the former Speaker and Deputy Speaker, voters are separating the candidates as new and old. However, Swagat Nepal, who had given an independent candidacy with the Khukuri cross symbol in 2079 BS, is also in the competition.

He had secured 26,441 votes at that time. At that time, he had the advantage of being given an independent candidacy, but this time he is a candidate from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).

Congress leader Sarita Prasai is also a candidate in Jhapa 2. She reached the parliament through the politics of the Nepal Students’ Union.

Maoist candidate Chapagain, on the other hand, won from Jhapa-4 in the first Constituent Assembly election in 2064 BS. She defeated former Congress leader Chakra Prasad Bastola. Chapagain got 19,279 votes. ‘I cannot be compared to the so-called heavyweights,’ Chapagain said, ‘The voters know my and their contributions.’

UML candidate Ghimire is considered a confidant of party chairman Oli. In 2079, he won by getting 28,716 votes. Jhapa-2 includes Arjundhara Municipality, wards 1 to 9 of Birtamod Municipality, wards 8 and 9 of Kankai Municipality, and wards 1 to 3 of Buddhashanti Rural Municipality. There are 147,522 voters in this area.

13,431 new voters have been added. Along with the new voters, the votes of the residents of the 51 bigha flood-affected area may also be decisive this time.

‘I have voted for the Congress many times before, but this time I am voting for Ghanti,’ says Bal Bikram Bohora (31), a professional driver, ‘I don’t even know who the candidate is, but I will vote for Ghanti.’

Many voters like him were found in Jhapa 2, who openly said that they would vote for the new one. However, the supporters of the Congress-UML did not want to reveal clearly even though they would vote for the old party.

A 32-year-old woman from Arjundhara-1, Sadhutar, who did not want to be named, said, ‘I will vote for the UML, the new ones have only tried to spread confusion, do not fall for it.’

There were very few voters who openly came out in favor of the party. On the contrary, some said that they had not yet decided about voting. ‘It is a matter of personal preference who one votes for, so far voters are coming in small numbers,’ said Champa Shrestha (32), ‘There is time, the decision will be made in the end.’